Local authorities will enjoy broader independence in managing resources allocated from national population support fund

The local authorities will have more freedom in using the financial resources transferred from the national population support fund to the local funds. Deputy Minister of Social Protection, Family and Child Iurie Bucinschi told Info-Prim Neo that this is one of the aims of the amendments introduced by the Government into the decision regarding the implementation of the law on the national and local population support funds. The amendments were published in the May 23 number of the Official Gazette. “The goal is to decentralize and offer the local authorities more possibilities of helping the persons in need. The money from the national fund will be transferred to the local funds according to the decision of the fund’s Administration Board, depending on the available resources, the number of beneficiaries of social payments in every territorial-administrative unit, the projected allocations and the situation in these units at a certain moment,” the deputy minister said. Over 100 million lei was allocated from the national population support fund and offered as assistance in 2007. Among the beneficiaries of social assistance are first of all the families affected by natural calamities or accidents, families with many children, persons with serious health problems, including those that undergo complicated surgical operations, internally displaced people, persons that have been out of work for a long time, war and labor veterans, etc. The fund is supplemented from the resources allocated from the budget (89 million lei planned for this year) and from certain payments levied from private individuals and legal entities. The amendments do not envision raising the given payments, the deputy minister said. The contributions remained the same: 2.5% of the incomes made from sales by mobile phone operators, 0.1% from the sum paid by individuals when purchasing currency and an additional 50 lei paid for legalizing the car registration certificate. The municipality of Chisinau and the Autonomous Territorial Unit of Gagauzia do not receive money from the national population support fund. According to Iurii Bucinschi, the Chisinau fund is supplemented from the payments made by currency exchange facilities. Another important amendment made to the decision on implementing the law on the national and local population support funds concerns the modification of the nominal composition of the Administration Board of the national population support fund. Iurie Bucinschi was named president of the Board, while Angela Chirilov, the head of social assistance division of the Ministry of Social Protection, was appointed as vice president. The Board also includes officials of the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Health, employers’ organizations, trade unions, public veterans’ organizations, local authorities. Anatolie Bagrin remained the executive director of the fund.